Hartford Hospital To Run On Fuel Cell By End Of Year

FuelCell Energy on Wednesday said it sold a power unit that will supply power and heat to Hartford Hospital by the end of the year.

The Danbury-based manufacturer sold the 1.4-megawatt fuel cell — which, with very few byproducts, makes power and heat using hydrogen harvested from natural gas — to Hartford Steam Company, which will sell the power to the hospital under a long term power purchase agreement.

The deal is part of the state's requirement for utilities to procure $300 million of power from in-state renewable or low-emission sources over 15 years. The program, called LREC, gives renewable developers some long-term certainty through power purchase agreements with utilities or energy direct users.

Critical facilities like hospitals and data centers have shown increased interest in fuel cells and other forms of on-site power lately, as storms and other issues have tested the reliability of the electric grid and distribution systems.

"Our power plants are easy to site due to their clean air profile, quiet operations, relatively modest space requirements, and continuous power production," Ben Toby, head of sales internationally and for the eastern region, said in a written statement. The fuel cell's footprint at the hospital will be just 2,250 square feet, about 200 times smaller than a 1.4 megawatt solar array, the company said.

The 1.4 megawatts of electricity from the fuel cell — which is the company's mid-capacity product — could power 1,400 average Connecticut homes.

The system creates heat and power by running natural gas through the fuel cell, called a combined heat and power system. The electricity generated will supply close to 60 percent of the hospital's power needs and most of the facility's heat requirements. When there's more steam generated than can be used by the 867-bed Hartford Hospital, it will be sent to a nearby magnet school system, the Learning Corridor Corporation.

"The ability of the fuel cell power plant to produce both electricity and steam from the same unit of fuel supports the attractive economics of this installation," Derek Rudd, president of Hartford Steam, said in a written statement. "We are interested in diversifying our combined heat and power generation portfolio and the low emission profile of this on-site power plant supports our sustainability and green initiatives."